Run If You Dare - Hardcover

Powell, Randy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374399816 ISBN 13: 9780374399818

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2001

Synopsis

A teenager's-eye view of parental desperation

What do you do when your dad has a midlife crisis? This is the dilemma of fourteen-year-old Gardner, whose father's been laid off and is now expressing boredom with his life, and even talking to Gardner about leaving the family. Gardner has all along thought he'd like to grow up to emulate his father, whom he has idolized since childhood. But, with this disappointment and possible betrayal haunting his family, Gardner isn't so sure anymore. Eventually, through old and new friendships and a dedicated endeavor to become physically strong, Gardner finds the emotional strength and identity to survive whatever upset may be in store for him and his family's future. In scenes both comical and heartbreaking, Randy Powell demonstrates once more that he is one of the foremost contemporary writers for young adults.

About this title

About the Author

Randy Powell is the author of five previous books for young adults, including The Whistling Toilets and Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

Gr 7-10-Sophomore year means lots of changes for Gardner Dickinson. His father is out of work and has decided to devote himself to his dream, playing golf. His mother's job is slowly taking over more of her available time and energy. His older sister is starting at the local community college and works part-time. Gardner sits in the middle, contemplating life without committing to anything. He is thrown completely off-balance when his dad tells him that he is thinking about leaving the family. In the midst of trying to find a direction for his own life, Gardner, 14, must face the realization that his father is just a man and not the hero he has always admired. Powell has created yet another realistic and engaging teenager. Like Grady in Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star (Farrar, 1999), Gardner must come to terms with the other members of his family. His voice is entirely authentic, and readers will be drawn to this vibrant teen who is trying to find his own place in a world that does not always hand deliver one's dreams on demand. A funny, tender, and wise portrait of modern life.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Powell's (Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star) contemporary novel set in Seattle artfully parallels a 14-year-old boy's coming-of-age with his father's midlife crisis. As the months progress and Mr. Dickinson's preference for golf over job-hunting wears thin, narrator Gardner comes to realize that his father's attitude is not based on lack of interest , but on discontent and regret for not having lived out his boyhood dreams. As in his previous novels, Powell convincingly renders multidimensional characters, drawing their vulnerabilities and flaws with remarkable accuracy and compassion. Their authenticity grows with each conversation, especially through Gardner's humorous and poignant exchanges with his best friend, Skeepbo, and classmate Annie, and his father; and Powell beautifully choreographs a pivotal argument between Gardner's parents. Through Gardner's narrative, readers observe his evolving perception of his father as the man changes from hero to imperfect human being, most heart-wrenchingly displayed in a scene in which Gardner views Mr. Dickinson from a distance and mistakes him for a bum ("I knew the man and yet he was a stranger to me. He was my father"). Rather than providing easy answers, the author allows readers to glean meaning from characters' actions and conversations. His open ending invites multiple interpretations. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 10-12. A slice-of-life novel that manages to be both uneasy and curiously tender. The title, like much of the action, holds multiple meanings. Gardner is pushing 15: his dad has been laid off, his mom works long hours. Gardner cares about his family, his best friend--even, perhaps, a childhood buddy, a girl who returns to their Seattle neighborhood, older and cuter. Gardner wants to look up to his dad, to see him as a hero, but Dad is dissolving into bitterness, golf, and inaction. Mom, clearly trying to hold it together, doesn't hit Gardner's radar often enough to matter. He wants to be a kid, a teen, a person. He wants to know why he and his dad can't seem to start themselves up. But Gardner manages to join the track team and stay the course, and his dad manages not to run away from home--this time. Full of utterly real situations and sly and entertaining dialogue--the sort one can actually imagine hearing--this should find an eager audience despite, or perhaps because of, its open-ended close. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374399816
• ISBN 13: 9780374399818
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192